Hero MotoCorp & Ather Energy collaborate to accelerate EV charging ecosystem

Hero MotoCorp and Ather Energy have announced that they will be collaborating to accelerate the electric vehicle charging ecosystem. Through this collaboration, EV users will be able to seamlessly use both Vida and Ather Grids across the country. The combined network will cover 100 cities with over 1900 fast-charging points.

This is the first-ever interoperable fast-charging network for EV two-wheelers in the world. According to the manufacturers, this should help accelerate EV adoption by strengthening the overall segment and promoting a convenient ownership experience.

Customers will be able to locate and navigate to the charging stations through the “My VIDA" and Ather App. The interoperability will enable them to discover only compatible locations, locate their nearest charging station, view its availability and navigate to the station.

Ather Energy also received approval from the BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) for its recently developed indigenous charging connector. It is called the Light Electric Combined Charging System (LECCS) and can be used by two-, three-, and four-wheelers. This is India's first indigenously developed AC and DC Combined Charging connector standard for light electric vehicles.

Ather Energy already has more than 1,400 fast chargers located across 100 cities. The company plans to scale up to over 100 fast chargers at BPCL locations across India by the end of the year. Ather has already successfully installed four fast chargers at various locations in Delhi NCR. Users can locate these fast chargers through the Ather App, which offers real-time information on charger availability.

Commenting on the collaboration, Dr. Swadesh Srivastava, Chief Business Officer – Emerging Mobility BU, Hero MotoCorp, said: “We are happy to extend our association with Ather Energy through this interoperable fast-charging network. VIDA’s brand promise is building a “Worry-free EV ecosystem", and this largest charging network in the country will go a long way in providing a seamless & convenient ownership experience to customers. This fastest-growing network utilises the government approved connector-standard, thus ensuring current and future customers will be able to use and charge their vehicles without any hassles in the future too. I congratulate the teams at Ather and VIDA for setting yet another global benchmark in the two-wheeler EV space."

Swapnil Jain, Co-founder and CTO, Ather Energy, “We are happy to partner with Hero MotoCorp for setting the stage for an interoperable fast-charging network. It’s a massive win for Indian OEMs to collaborate on scaling up charging infrastructure. This partnership will pave the way for consumers to access an extensive network of charging stations across the country, alleviating range anxiety. Given the technical superiority of LECCS and the fact that it was Made in India for India, we believe more OEMs will find it lucrative to adopt this standard. Today we are also committing that any OEM which adopts the LECCS standard will have access to Ather Grid across India. With this interoperability we are already demonstrating how it is beneficial for all OEMs to be on one standard. We believe that public charging infrastructure for two-wheelers is now set for collaborative expansion."